The present invention, Alocasia ‘Regal Shields’, relates to a new and distinct interspecific hybrid of Alocasia, hereinafter referred to by its cultivar name, ‘Regal Shields’. ‘Regal Shields’ is a new tropical plant used as a landscape and container plant.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor at a nursery in Florida City, Fla. The overall purpose of the breeding program is to make selections of Alocasia plants with unique foliage that are cold resistant and durable with a good growth rate in Florida. ‘Regal Shields’ arose from a cross make in 2007 between an unnamed plant of Alocasia odora as the female parent and an unnamed plant of Alocasia reginula as the male parent. ‘Regal Shields’ was selected as a single unique plant in 2013 from amongst the seedlings derived from the above cross.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished using corm division by the Inventor in Florida City, Fla. in 2008. Asexual propagation by corm division and tissue culture using meristem tissue of the new cultivar has shown that the unique features of the new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.